1967, xiv, 210 pp., 3 illus.

For the complete text of The Pajaro Valley Apple Industry, 1890-1930 (E-Scholarship).Includes complete audio (streaming or download) for the oral history. Note: Due to editing by the narrator, there may be some differences between the audio recording and the transcript. Please quote from the transcript as the record. Audio will be found under "Supporting Material."

Apple packinghouse. Cikuth was a partner in J.P. Miovich Co. from 1898-1907.

Luke P. Cikuth was born in Yugoslavia in 1873 and came to the United States in 1890. After spending several years at various odd jobs, he started an apple packing and shipping business which soon became one of Watsonville's largest packing companies. Cikuth describes his business operations and the apple industry as a whole, covering not only the packing and shipping of apples, but also the problems and techniques involved in growing apples, and the role of the various auxiliary apple industries such as the cider works, vinegar works, apple dryers, and cold storage facilities. He also discusses other agricultural crops that are, or have been, important in the Pajaro Valley and the ethnic groups that have been associated with some of these crops. In the concluding chapter of the manuscript Mr. Cikuth describes the town of Watsonville as it appeared to him in the 1890s.